A vast 1980s neoclassical-postmodern district immediately east of the Écusson, designed by Ricardo Bofill. A kilometre-long axis runs from the Place de la Comédie through the Polygone shopping centre, past a colossal pediment, around colonnaded squares with names like Place du Nombre d'Or, Place du Millénaire and Place de Thessalie, all the way down to the river Lez.
The effect is divisive — some see it as a brilliant updating of classical urbanism, others as a giant exercise in concrete pomposity. Either way it is genuinely strange and worth walking through. The colossal Esplanade de l'Europe at the river end gives a sense of the original ambition. Architectural visitors should also note Bofill's later Hôtel de Région (today the Hôtel de Ville annex) and the contemporary buildings popping up along the river.